Steppenwolf (1974)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Fred Haines

Writers:

Fred Haines (writer)
Hermann Hesse (novel)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In the bourgeois circles of Europe after the Great War, can anything save the modern man? Harry Haller...

Plot Keywords:

Lesbianism | Female Nudity | Surreal | Surrealism | Dream Like

Cast

Max von Sydow	...	Harry Haller
Dominique Sanda	...	Hermine
Pierre Clémenti	...	Pablo
Carla Romanelli	...	Maria
Roy Bosier	...	Aztec
Alfred Baillou	...	Geothe
Niels-Peter Rudolph	...	Gustav
Helmut Förnbacher	...	Franz
Charles Régnier	...	Loering
Eduard Linkers	...	Mr. Hefte
Silvia Reize	...	Dora
Helen Hesse	...	Frau Hefte
Sunnyi Melles	...	Rosa (as Judith Melles)

Also Known As:

Lupo della steppa, Il (Italy)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA | Switzerland | UK | France | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Basel, Kanton Basel Stadt, Switzerland

The Transformation Of The Soul

Briefly, I find the film to be a splendid effort in portraying the transformation of the human personality during what is commonly called "The Mid-Life Crisis".

My inquiries into the life & works of Hermann Hesse revealed that he had sought, during a very difficult period of his life, the assistance of a medical colleague of Dr.C.G.Jung of Zurich, Switzerland: Gustav Richard Heyer, M.D.

The novel, "Steppenwolf", appears to have been influenced by what Hesse learned about himself during this time, a period of personal & world disruption & devastation, the portent of more to come, as he saw it.

The Chilean diplomat & writer, Miguel Serrano, wrote an account of his meetings with Hermann Hesse & Carl Jung, both of whom were in advanced years at the time - I found it well worth reading, being interested in the remarkable lives of these two "Sages" of our times.

The "C.G.Jung Letters" have many references to Hesse, as they do to James Joyce and other living writers of the 20th century.

With these things in my mind, I found the book & the film most stimulating! My only wish is that the film will be released on DVD, and/or remade for the 21st Century.

A quote from the 1965 Penquin Edition (UK) "Author's Note" may be appropriate:-

"Of course, I neither can nor intend to tell my readers how they ought to understand my tale. May everyone find in it what strikes a chord in him and is of some use to him! But I would be happy if many of them were to realize that the story of the Steppenwolf pictures a disease and crisis - but not one leading to death and destruction, on the contrary: to healing."